Food Safety & Hygiene

Hi Everyone,

We often heard of more and more of tainted food and food poisoning cases in the world. Among these cases are:

1. China Tainted Milk Scandal in 2008
2. 13 Pupils Hit With Food Poisoning in Alor Star
3. Unhygienic Food Preparation
4. Unhygienic Eateries
5. Cyclospora Parasite Sickens 362 in 15 States, 18 Hospitalized

The China milk scandal involving several milk brands including budget brand, Sanlu, Mingli, Yili and Yashili. Babies who had been fed Sanlu branded milk were found to have kidney stones resulting in 16 babies were dead in one region in Gangsu. Further investigations revealed that the milk powders were laced with melamine, a chemical used to increase protein content^.1 Greedy and ignorant companies were boosting their profits by including melamine in milk production. We wonder why there is no conscience among unscrupulous manufacturers.

Closer to home, there were several food poisoning cases happened recently^2,3,4 and in the past few years. There were also reports on unhygienic food preparation and eateries. Rats and cockroaches are the main culprits in most of these cases. Surprisingly, some people are defending the unhygienic eateries by claiming that it tastes good. There is a restaurant near by house that is always full of people yet I have been told that this restaurant is surrounded by huge rats. Most people would actually avoid these restaurants rather than frequent these restaurants. In some cases, people will find some type of insect such as a cockroach or a fly on a plate of rice or in the bowl of a soup. 

There are also restaurants that do not prepare food hygienically. Vegetables and fruits are not washed and food are cooked using unclean cooking oil. Unclean oil means that the cook uses the cooking oil that was used in the previous day or the cooking oil found in the drain also known as Gutter Oil. It is to our disgust that we see the video showing how gutter oil is produced. Gutter Oil is present in 1 in 10 of China's cooking oil and is carcinogenic. Food not prepared in hygienic ways will cause diarrhoea and vomiting. It will cause Hepatitis C and death in worst cases. Rats in the surrounding area also cause the Leptospirosis disease.

Recently in US, there is also the case of Cyclospora happening mostly in the state of Iowa. It sickened 274 people and hospitalises 10. To know more, please read Item 2 in the links above.

A number of fruit and vegetable farmers and sellers are also spraying huge amounts of pesticide and insecticide to their crops. These are not good as there will be high level of chemicals in our body after consuming these foods.

There is also a concern of food safety in China. This is written by one of The Star's journalist who is working in China.

In a nutshell, all food should be prepared in a clean environment. Food must be fresh and free of any harmful chemicals. Fruits and vegetables need to be washed thoroughly. Dirty parts should be removed. Unhygienic food can kill.

1. 2008 Chinese Milk Scandal, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Chinese_milk_scandal, 

<sup>Accessed: 27th July 2013

2. 12 Penang students down with food poisoning, http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/12-penang-students-down-with-food-poisoning/, Accessed: 27th July 2013

3. 13 Pupils Hit With Food Poisoning, http://www.malaysiandigest.com/news/36-local2/332061-13-pupils-hit-with-food-poisoning.html , Accessed: 27th July 2013

4. 70 pupils of Bukit Kapar school down with food poisoning, http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2013/02/20/70-pupils-of-Bukit-Kapar-school-down-with-food-poisoning.aspx , Accessed: 27th July 2013</sup>

Safety on the Roads

Hi Everyone,

Snatch thieves, robberies rape and other crimes are happening frequently for the past 2 years. Innocent lives were threatened and some were lost. All these happened in an instant without any warning. It can happen anywhere including residential areas, commercial areas, restaurants, alleyways and parks. As of today, there is almost a murder or shooting in the news everyday.

Areas involved include Bukit Gasing, Wangsa Maju, Cheras, Penang, Petaling Jaya, KL, Johor and other areas. There is a crime awareness website and a crime awareness Facebook page as well. It is not safe as before. This also applies to cities such as Melbourne, Australia and Italy.

Actions seem to have been taken but crime rate still increases. More and more residential areas have started to employ guards to guard their community. Most of us need to come back home by 12am. We need to be vigilant to our surroundings and not fall victims into crimes. 

Perhaps these are some steps to take to curb crimes: 

• More patrolling by the police should be done
• Learn martial arts and kick boxing for self defence
• Pepper Spray
• Don't carry expensive items
• Don't carry things in a position for snatch thieves to take
• Carry minimum cash when jogging
• CCTVs / Guardhouses in residential areas
• Take the more crowded (average to slightly more crowded) ways to go home instead of short cuts
• Wear cheap watch
• Just give them money when they ask

These thieves and robbers may not necessarily be done by foreigners here but can be the locals. The cause of these may be due to rising costs of living and insufficient money to buy what they want. Some may be their plan all the time as an act of revenge or something. I do not know what their reasons are but we need to be vigilant outside.

Can all these be reduced and stopped? Please help to make each country safe whether here in Malaysia and other countries.

Cheers,

Rogerkoo

Changes made to blog (HTML5 & CSS3)

Hi All,

Please be noted that I'll be making changes to this blog in terms of template and layout. New features may be introduced as well using HTML5 and CSS3. Therefore, you may see certain things are still in development. Thank you.

Cheers,

Rogerkoo

Cars in Malaysia since February 2010

Hi Everyone,


This post is just for information only. I collected my Proton Persona on February 9th 2010. I have been driving for more than a year now. When I bought the car, my car number plate is WTM 15xx. 


For Malaysian number plates, it is three characters, followed by four digit number. Therefore, each character (WTM, WTN...) has about 9,999 possible numbers (about 10,000 cars). Also, we skip the characters, O, I and Z. These few days, I have spotted cars bearing the number WUX 2xxx. 


Therefore, since I bought my car, there are over 330,000 vehicles sold over the past 1 year. There are over 330K additional cars in Klang Valley alone. People are forced to buy cars because there is lack of transport here. For myself, the nearest LRT (light rail transit) station is at Bandar Tasik Selatan, about 10kms away. I also need someone to drive me there or I drive to get to the LRT station. 


However, there is good news. Our government is planning a MRT (mass rail transit) line from Sungai Buloh to Kajang. It will pass by densely populated areas such as Cheras, Bandar Utama, Kota Damansara, Bukit Bintang, Sungai Buloh and Kajang. This will improve the public transport system here in Kuala Lumpur. It also helps the environment as there would be less cars on the road. People can drive to the train station and take a train to work instead of driving there. It would reduce traffic jam in KL too. More cars will mean more traffic jam.


That's all for now.


Cheers,


Rogerkoo

New Post Coming Soon

Hi All,


A new post would be coming soon. A review on the Proton Persona 1.6 H-Line that I bought recently. It has been two months since the last update on 1st January 2010. Been busy.


Cheers,


Teng Joon

Hi,

Here are several terms of science and mathematics in both English and BM. Notice that the terms used for BM can be quite different from that used in English.


You can also find out the mathematical and statistical terms for English - BM and BM - English at the Universiti Malaya Institute of Mathematical Sciences - Faculty of Science website for Mathematical and Statistical Terms. 


The links are as below:
English - BM
BM - English

Scientific Terms:

English	Bahasa Malaysia
Displacement	Sesaran
Force	Daya
Centrifugal / Centripetal force	Daya pusaran
Energy	Tenaga
Power	Kuasa
Friction	Daya geseran / geseran
Mass	Jisim
Weight	Berat
Heart	Jantung
Lung	Paru-paru / Peparu
Liver	Hati
Oxidation	Pengoksidaan
Catalyst	Pemangkin
Rust	Karat
Light	Cahaya
Growth	Tumbesaran
Reproduction	Pembiakan
Digestion / Digestive system	Pencernaan / Sistem pencernaan
Mammals	Mamalia
Amphibians	Amphibia
Reptiles	Reptilia
Light reflection	Pantulan cahaya
Light refraction	Pembiasan cahaya
Hair	Rambut (Head), Bulu (Facial)
Feathers	Bulu (Birds etc)
Head / Eyes / Ear / Nose / Mouth / Hands / Legs (Foot and Feet also) / Elbow / Neck	Kepala / Mata /  Telinga /  Hidung /  Mulut / Tangan / Kaki / Siku / Leher
Human / Human being	Manusia
Pressure	Tekanan
Law (as in Newton's First Law)	Hukum
Air	Udara
Water / Liquid	Air (Ar Yay) / Cecair (Ce Ca Yay)
Freezing (process)	Pembekuan
Melting (process)	Peleburan
Condensation (process)	Kondensasi
Boiling (process)	Pendidihan
Test tube	Tabung uji
Bunsen burner	Penunu bunsen
Temperature	Suhu

Mathematic Terms:

English	Bahasa Malaysia
Add / Addition	Tambah / Penambahan
Subtract / Subtraction	Tolak / Penolakan
Multiply / Multiplication	Darab / Pendaraban
Divide / Division	Bahagi / Pembahagian
Function	Fungsi
Fraction	Pecahan
Differentiation	Pembezaan
Statistic	Statistik
Trigonometry	Trigonometri
Circumference	Lilitan bulatan
to the power of (two to the power of three = 8)	Kuasa
Volume	Isipadu
Area	Luas
Angle	Sudut
Degree	Darjah
Average	Purata
Perimeter	Perimeter
Geometry	Geometri
Percent / Percentage of	Peratus / Peratus daripada
Range	Julat
Progression	Janjang
Arithmetic Progression	Janjang Arithmetik
Geometric Progression	Janjang Geometri

Cheers,

Rogerkoo

Random Photos

Hi Everyone,

Here are some of the photos that I've taken during the week. I tested out the new Panasonic Rechargeable Batteries that I bought with my camera. Quite long lasting so far even though the camera occasionally shows the low battery indicator. Maybe it's the camera problem. It's an Olympus Camedia C-350.

Couple of Lizards and Spoiled TV

Hi Everyone,

I came back late at work tonight. I only left my office at 2203. My mum came to fetch me around 2230 and arrived home at about 2255. I watched an anime and had soup and a slice of salmon. Before I went to shower, I looked outside the window and saw there lizards on the ceiling at my house garage. They formed a triangle near the lights. Haha. These are the pictures taken:

The TV at home is spoiled today too. I was watching anime this morning around 1145. Suddenly, the whole screen went blank during advertisements and there was a loud sound. I thought it was a sound coming from outside. I then put Astro on standby mode and switched off the TV and there was no more sound. My mum then turned on the TV and the sound was still there. This is the TV at home: Can see my reflection there. Hehe. It is a Sony TV.

That's all for now.

Pictures at IBM Plaza & KPMG Tower

Here are some pictures at IBM Plaza & KPMG Tower: That's all.

This Week

Hi,

These are some pictures that I have taken in front of KPMG Tower & IBM Plaza:

I have almost finished reading Duma Key now. But still about more than 100 pages to go. It is getting very exciting now. Stephen King is good.

I am using my Motorola L72 now for about 9 months now. It is a good mobile phone. I have not seen a lot of people who are using this phone though. I do not know why. It is not as popular compared to Motorola L6 & Motorola L7. Sometimes, I thought I've seen the same model but it is actually a L7. Have a look at the website for more details.

Heroes Season 3 will be starting soon on Star World. Looking forward to this season. Season 2 is a bit boring. Did not watch Season 2 that much. Now I am following CSI:New York, CSI:Miami, 24 and both Amazing Race & Amazing Race Asia. 

I have finished reading 1 Kings and 2 Kings finally. I have read the first two chapters of 1 Chronicles. More information will be posted soon about 1 Kings & 2 Kings. Stay tuned.